Show-case.



1N0. 801,944. PATENTED OUT. 17, 1905.

F.WEBBR.

SHOW CASE.

APPLICATION FILED 0013,1904.

Fgyi.

FRED WEBER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SHOW-CASE- Specification of Letters Fatent.

Patented. Oct. 17, 1905.

Application filed October 3, 1904 Serial No. 226,882.

To (all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRED WEBER, a citizen of the United States, residingat Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California,have invented anew and useful Show- Oase, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in glass show -cases; and theimprovement resides particularly in the means for fastening one glasssurface to another glass surface or to woodwork forming part of thecase.

The object of the invention is to do away with drilling holes throughthe glass and to dispense with metallic or other fastening devices whichare commonly used at the corners for holding the plates forming the casetogether and to provide a fastening which will unite the parts sosecurely that they cannot be separated except by such stresses or blowsas would break the glass before accomplishing the dismemberment,although by the use of a proper tool the parts may easily be separated.

Another object is to provide for a certain amount of elasticity at thejoint, whereby a cushion effect is produced. If the parts were rigidlyunited, severe shocks received by the show-case would tend to shatterthe plates or displace the parts; but in the present invention thecushion-joint aids in maintaining the union of the parts, affording, asit does, an elastic or resilient joint, which eases the strain at theactual union or contact-faces of the plates, thereby also greatlysoftening the effects of shocks received by the case.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and, referringthereto, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a show-case the plates ofwhich are fastened together with my improved means. Fig. 2 is anenlarged sectional view on line 00 00 Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan ofa corner, showing the manner of fastening the side plates to the top.Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, illustrating a miter-joint. Fig. 5is a sectional view illustrating the method of fastening glass plateswith an intervening strip of molding.

The invention comprises in combination with the parts to be united, suchas glass or other material having a vitreous surface, a strip ofyielding material, such as felt, which is interposed between theadjacent faces to be united, each face of the yielding material having acoating of cement, which forms the union between the yielding materialand the surface of the adjacent part.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, 1 designates the front plate. 2 is theside plate, and 3 is the top plate, resting upon the front and sideplates with a strip of felt 4:, which lies upon the top edge of the sideplates 1 and 2, both top and bottom faces of the felt ihaving cement 5,which unites the plates to the felt. The cement is applied to the feltsuperficially. forming a skin, as it were, on both sides of the felt,the body of the-felt thus retaining its natural state. If the cementwere applied to the felt so as to permeate the same, by uniting with thefelt it would form a hard practically homogeneous substance, thusdestroying the resiliency of the felt. The cement should be applied tothe felt when quite thick, so that it will not soak into the felt. Thusa laminated structure is produced comprising the two layers of cement,with an intervening layer of felt forming the yielding or resilientsubstance. Any desired form of cement may be used for this purpose, andyielding or resilient substances other than felt could be employed,which selections are obviously embraced in the scope of my invention.

In Fig. 3 the front plate 1 extends slightly beyond the outside face ofthe side plate 2, as shown, the top plate 3 preferably overhanging boththe front and side plates, so as to give a neat finish to the case.

Fig. 4 shows the side plate 2 and front plate 1 united with amiter-joint with the intervening laminated felt and cement structure.This method gives a greater area of union between the front and sideplates and in some cases may be preferred.

Fig. 5 shows a rabbeted molding 6, which rests upon the front plate 1,the top plate 3 resting upon the molding 6, the felt and cementstructure being located between the molding and glass, as shown. A strip7 extends along inside the plate 1, being fastened to the molding 6 bypins 8 or any other suitable means, the strip holding the plate 1 inplace on the molding 6. This method of union permits easy assembling ofthe parts.

The construction shown in Fig. 5 enables thin glass to be used affordingsufficient cementing area, the narrow thin edge alone not givingsufficient cementing area.

At the back of the case, where the glass plates fasten to the woodenstructure 9, as shown'in Fig. 1, the same fastening means,

consisting of the laminated structure of felt glass, or it may becolored green, or any other color, green being preferred for both feltand cement.

Parts which have been united in this manner cannot be separated withoutbreaking the glass, except by running a sharp knife through the feltbetween the two layers of cement. This feature is one of considerablevalue, inasmuch as it permits of easy removal of a plate when desired,as in altering the structure of the case or in making repairs when oneor more of the glass plates become broken. The yielding nature of thefelt cushion absorbs the sharpness of shocks on the case and obviatesbreakage, which so frequently happens with all other forms of fasteningsnow known, particularly metallic corner-fastenings or structures inwhich a glass plate is grooved to receive the edge of another glassplate, which parts are united by cement at the groove, or show-cases inwhich the vertical glass plates are tightly fitted in grooved frames ofwood or other material. In the latter structures severe shocks imparteddirectly to the front or side plates will fracture them, as a side platehas no interresiliency with the front plate or top frame; but thepresent invention avoids this difficulty, as there is interresiliencywith both top and vertical plates which allows each plate to moverelatively to the other, whether one plate alone is jarred or whetherall plates are jarred simultaneously, so that each plate vibrates itsown degree and direction. The effect of this is particularly noticeableat the corners formed by the junction of three plates-the top plate, aside plate, and front plate-as at the corners referred to unless perfectcushioning of each plate is provided a fracture is very likely to occur,resulting from the rigidity of the three-line joint and the unequal rateof vibration of the respective three plates and the conflictingdirections or planes of vibration centering at one point, and so far asI am aware I am the first inventor to provide a structure comprisingglass plates arranged in three different planes, each plate meeting andjoining the other two, with an intervening cushion between the joiningfaces, to which cushion the glass plates are cemented.

What I claim is 1. A structure comprising a plurality of glass plates,the edges of which are spaced from the adjacent plates, a felt cushionfilling the space between the adjoining plates, the plates beingcemented to the felt, each plate being adapted to freely vibrate in itsnatural plane of vibration, and prevented by the felt cushion fromimparting its vibration to the adjacent plates.

2. A structure comprising a plurality of glass plates, an unconfinededge of one plate nearly but not quite meeting another plate also withunconfined adjacent edge, an elastic material filling the space thusexisting between the nearest adjacent surfaces of the plates,

said plates being attached to the elastic material, whereby the platesby reason of their unconfined edges and the intervening elastic materialcan each vibrate or move in any direction independently.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at Los Angeles,California, this 24th day of September, 1904.

FRED WEBER.

In presence of GEORGE T. HAcKLEY, FREDERICK S. LYON.

